A District and Sessions Court of Islamabad Tuesday sent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson Rauf Hasan on 14 days' judicial remand in a case relating to his alleged involvement in 'digital terrorism' on behalf of his party.
The court also sent nine others, allegedly associated with and running anti-state campaigns on digital media platforms, to jail.
The court, however, directed the authorities to conduct a medical examination of Rauf at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) before sending him to jail. The direction came after the veteran PTI leader complained of severe heart pain.
On Tuesday, District and Sessions Judge Shafiq Bhatti heard the case. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) presented Rauf Hassan before the court.
FIA's prosecutor informed the court that the agency had received a technical report which showed that all the suspects were in contact with one another. The prosecutor sought a five-day extension in Rauf's physical remand to complete investigations.
However, Rauf's counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar, opposed FIA's plea for further physical remand. He contended before the court that his client had been on physical remand for the past seven days. With Rauf's health deteriorating, Zafar argued that his client should be allowed to undergo a medical check.
The court subsequently rejected the agency's request and instead sent him to jail.
Digital terrorism and anti-state propaganda
PTI's central spokesperson, along with several other members of PTI's media cell, have been booked by the FIA for their alleged involvement in operating a digital media cell and its alleged involvement in running anti-Pakistan propaganda.
In the FIR lodged against them, the FIA argued that while probing PTI activist Ahmad Waqas Janjua, the suspect revealed that he, along with the party's leadership and members of the media cell, were allegedly involved in spreading anti-state propaganda.
The charges against the 12 suspects — two of whom are women — include sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyber-terrorism), and 11 (hate speech) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
The suspects identified were Waqas, PTI's top leader Rauf Hasan, Afaq Ahmed Alvi, Hameedullah, Rashid Mahmood, Zeeshan Farooq, Syed Osama, Mohammad Rizwan Afzal, Mohammad Rafiq, Syed Hamza, Farhat Khalid, and Iqra.
"...by employing various tactics on social media, [these people are] trying to hurt the integrity of Pakistan as well as sabotage the law and order situation," read the FIR filed on the complaint of CTD Inspector Sajid Ikram.
Ikram claimed that Janjua had told his interrogators that members of PTI's media cell, with internal and external help, damaged the country's integrity on a daily basis.
The FIR further mentions that members of the media cell took directions from Rauf every day to incite people against the state and the army in a bid to create a chaotic situation.
According to the FIA, two technical reports were prepared, one on July 27 and the other on July 29.
The investigation agency said that these reports revealed that the suspects, in active connivance with each other, were involved in orchestrating and initiating an organised and orchestrated campaign on social media against state institutions.
The FIA said the suspects ran campaigns by creating, uploading and disseminating anti-state content on various social media platforms with willful intent to coerce and intimidate or overthrow the government and/or the public.
The FIA said it needed to interrogate the suspects, and further raids were to be conducted on their statements to arrest their accomplices and collect other electronic/digital devices used in the commission of subject offences.